One of the real revolutions of data transfer and sharing in recent years has been the USB flash drive, allowing people to dispense with the antiquated idea of using floppy disks, and pulling people away from the time-consuming and harder to transport medium of burned CDs and DVDs. USB flash drives are now not only a relatively cheap and long-lasting form of storage, but also hugely convenient. Little wonder that most of us spend at the very least our working days walking around carrying such a flash drive in our pockets or around our necks, and quite often some of our personal time to boot.

Of course, when you're carrying important data around on a USB flash drive almost twenty-four hours a day, nightmare scenarios begin to emerge. Aside from actually losing the device, what if you drop it under a herd of trampling feet? Or worse, what if it lands square in a large puddle or kitchen sink?